pic of Kokanee salmon run in Lake Tahoe feeder creek

[Eyecatch Tinytrout]

I came across another reference as to the function of gill rakers:

Trout, especially in lakes, also feed on zooplankton as small as 1 millimeter in diameter. Rather than take them in through the mouth, trout funnel them through their gill rakers, bony processes on the gill arches, into the esophogus.

This was taken from Trout, Stackpole Books. Jim Chacko Athappilly is a proffessor at Untity College in Maine, certified fish pathologist, etc. I should mention that he does list Behnke as a scource concerning the number of gill rakers in Kokanee!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

40 years ago when we did lots of trolling for Kokanee we noticed their stomach was full of green mush. I guessed this is the small plankton they eat.

Found this on the web:

"Kokanee eat mostly zooplankton, but may eat some insect larvae and other invertebrates."

[NorCalFlyGuy]

check this out.....

http://www.kokanee.org/kokanee_festival.htm